Results

Tables and figures show the relationship between composition of ethanol and refractive index in
tabulated form and graphically, respectively. The later graphs include the T-x-y diagram of
ethanol, and the mole fraction data obtained for top and bottom product.

Table 1: Relationship for composition of ethanol and refractive index (RI)

Composition of ethanol Refractive Index (RI)

0 1.3328
0.03 1.3376
0.07 1.3430
0.12 1.3471
0.17 1.3520
0.24 1.3559
0.32 1.3580
0.42 1.3602
0.55 1.3620
0.74 1.3627
1.00 1.3622

Graph of Refractive index against composition of ethanol

1.37

1.36 f(x) = − 0.03 x² + 0.06 x + 1.33

Refractive Index (RI)

1.35

1.34

1.33

1.32

1.31
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Composition of ethanol, (x)

Figure 1: Graph of RI vs x
 T-x-y Graph
105

100

95
T (oC)

90

85

80

75
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Composition (x)

Figure 2: T-x-y graph for ethanol in water

Table 2: Experimental data for distillate and bottoms

t (min) T12 T13 RI xD T20 RI xB

0 67 77.10 1.3614 0.78 83.6 1.3428 0.191
5 69.9 76.98 1.3619 0.822 84.3 1.3418 0.172
10 63.4 76.60 1.3616 0.796 83.7 1.3416 0.168
15 63.2 77.12 1.3619 0.822 84.2 1.3415 0.166
20 61.4 77.20 1.361 0.752 84.4 1.3405 0.147
25 63 77.10 1.3616 0.796 84.1 1.3416 0.168
30 61.1 77.39 1.3616 0.796 85.6 1.3411 0.158
35 63 77.27 1.3614 0.78 85.3 1.34 0.137
40 60.6 77.29 1.3611 0.758 85.7 1.338 0.100
45 63.4 77.00 1.361 0.752 85.2 1.336 0.065
50 59.9 77.65 1.361 0.752 85.5 1.3345 0.0396

Sample Calculations
 5 litres of ethanol-water mixture: 1.5L of ethanol and 3.5L of water
For the Feed: Refractive index (RI):1.3495
 Compositions: At the top: xD = 0.752
At the feed: xF = 0.30
At the bottom: xB = 0.0396
 Using the feed line equation for subcooled liquid,
C❑ p , L (T b−T F )
q=1+ (Eq. 1)
λ

0.143(78.4−60)
q=1+ =1
39× 103
 Feed line equation,
Slope ¿−q /(1−q) = ∞

 Rectifying Operating Line (ROL)

Using the ROL equation,

R xD
y n+ 1= xn +
R+1 R+1
2 0.752
y n+ 1= x +
2+1 n 2+1
y n+ 1=0.667 x n+ 0.251

Using the results from the above calculations, a graph was plotted to determine the number of
theoretical trays required for an ethanol-water mixture according to the McCabe-Thiele graphical
method.
 1
McCabe Thiele Diagram for Ethanol/Water mixture
0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Figure 3: Graph for determining the number of theoretical trays required

From the graph,

Number of theoretical trays required: 5.7 trays + 1 reboiler
5.7
Overall Efficiency of the distillation column: ×100=57 %
10

Table 3: x and y data for real ethanol-water mixture

T Ptot Psat1 Psat2 γ1 γ2 x1 y1

100 760 1689.062 759.983 1.983 1 0 0
95.5 760 1443.805 645.737 1.778 1.003 0.058 0.197
89 760 1141.864 506.195 1.403 1.041 0.217 0.457
86.7 760 1048.417 463.294 1.258 1.083 0.316 0.548
85.3 760 994.7 438.701 1.176 1.124 0.394 0.607
84.1 760 950.49 418.501 1.115 1.17 0.474 0.661
82.7 760 900.981 395.924 1.059 1.239 0.582 0.729
 82.3 760 887.235 389.664 1.047 1.261 0.614 0.75
81.5 760 860.266 377.393 1.027 1.307 0.684 0.795
80.7 760 833.98 365.448 1.013 1.353 0.758 0.842
79.8 760 805.209 352.391 1.004 1.402 0.846 0.9
79.7 760.004 802.064 350.964 1.003 1.407 0.856 0.906
79.3 760 789.585 345.308 1.001 1.426 0.897 0.933
78.7 760.016 771.17 336.966 1 1.449 0.96 0.974
78.4 760.002 762.097 332.859 1 1.458 0.992 0.995
78.2 756.098 756.098 330.145 1 1.46 1 1

Sample Calculations
At 95.5°C, the vapor pressures of ethanol and water are calculated using the Antoine equation
B 1554.3
For ethanol, Psat 1=10( A− T +C ) =10(8.04494− 95.5+222.65 )=1443.805 mmHg

B 1668.21
For water, Psat 2=10( A− T +C ) =10(7.96681− 95.5+228 )=645.737 mmHg

The sample calculations were repeated at different temperatures to obtain vapor pressures at
other temperatures.
Using modified Raoult’s law: Ptot =x 1 γ 1 Psat 1+ x2 γ 2 P sat2 (1)
Using equations for two parameter Margules Model:

ln γ 1=x 22 ( A 12+ 2 ( A 21−A 12 ) x 1 ) (2)

ln γ 2=x 21 ( A 21+ 2 ( A 12−A 21 ) x 2 ) (3)

Combining (2) and (3) into (1) with data at 95.5°C gives,
2 2
x 1 (0.3781+0.6134 (1− x1 ) )
760=1 443.805 x 1 e( 1−x ) (0.6848−0.6134 x )¿ ¿+645.737 ( 1−x 1 ) e
1 1

Solving the above equation gives,

x 1=0.058 , x 2=0.942 , γ 1=1.778 , γ 2=1.003

Same calculations were carried out at other temperatures to give x and y data in table 3.

Using the results from the above calculations, a graph was plotted to determine the actual
number of trays required for a real ethanol-water mixture according to the McCabe-Thiele
graphical method.
 1
McCabe Thiele Diagram for real mixture
0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Figure 4: Graph for determining the number of actual trays required for real mixture

From Figure 4,
Number of actual trays required: 5.8 trays + 1 reboiler
5.8
Overall Efficiency of the distillation column: ×100=5 8 %
10